Conveyer



F. J. DlETZ Dec. 27, 1932.

GONVEYER Filed Jan. 14, 1952 T .e rw

l atented Dec. 27, 1932 FRANK J. Dream, or BALTIMORE,

MABYLAND, ASSIGNOR TO ALVEY MANUFACTURING COMPANY, or sr. LOUIS, MISSOURI, n conr'onn rron on MIss'oUnI CONVEYER.

7 Application filed January 14, 1932. Serial lie. 586,5(18.

This invention relates to conveyors, particularly to a device for lowering and raising comparatively tall articles such as ice cream cans and the like; and the invention has for its principal object to provide a conveyer device of this type that is simple in construction and one that is capable of transferring articles from one level to another in an upright position and in a slow and orderly manner without allowing them to tilt to any great extent from their up right position.

The invention consists principally in arranging a helical conveyer way around a l rotary element havingarticle guiding seats or grooves throughout its length whereby the'movement of an article placed on the helical conveyerramp with a portion of the article extending in a seat or groove can be "3 readily controlled by the rotary element.

The invention also consists in the conveyer and in the parts, combinations and arrange: ments of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawing which forms part of this specification, and wherein like symbols refer to like parts wherever they occur,

Fig. 1 is a side elevation, with the top portion removed, of a can lowering device embodying my invention; and

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the lowering device showing the means for feeding articles thereto. 3D In the construction illustrated, four upright angle members 1 symmetrically arranged about a common center are secured to the receiving room floor A of the building in which the device is mounted. Theseupright members constitute the supporting frame work of the lowering device and they extend upwardly for as many floors as is necessary to reach the feeding point of the device. In the accompanying drawing I have shown only one floor l d above there:

ceiving floor and the upright members 1 extend through a hole C in this floorand each of the upright members 1 is secured to the floor by means of an angle bracket 2 riveted to the upright members 1 and secured to the floor by bolts 3. Mounted within the four upright members 1 is a helically coiled angle member having one of its flanges extending vertically and constituting the perimeter of the helix; and the'flange 5 is secured to each of the upright members 1 by means of rivets 6. The other flange of the helically coiledangle member 43' extends inwardly of the helix and constitutes'the carrying surface 7 of a helical conveyer way. Ex-

tending directly above and parallel to the spiral of the vertically disposed flange 5 of the helically coiled angle member is'a helicoiled strip 8 of substantially the same thickness as'tliat ofthe vertically disposed flange 5. This strip member 8 is secured to each upright angle member 1 of the frame work by means of rivets 9 and constitutes an upper side guide for articles traveling on the helical c onveyer ramp.

Located centrally of the frame work is a vertically disposed tubular shaft 10 that is rotatably mounted in a step bearing 11 on the receiving floor A and in any suitable kind of vertical bearing (not shown) above the feeding point of the device. A horizontally disposed bevel gear 12 is fixed on the tubular shaft 10 near the lower end thereof just above the step bearing 11 and this bevel gear 12 meshes with a vertically disposed bevel'gear 13 fixed on the end of a horizontal shaft 14 that is mounted in a horizontal bearing 15 that is secured to one of the .four upright angle members 1; and the horizontalshaft 1% is driven by a suitable source of power such as a mOtOr 16 mounted on and secured to a suitable foundation 17 provided on the receiving floor outside of the conveyer frame work. Fourlongnarrow arcuate sheet metal members 18 are symmetrically arranged.

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around the outside of the tubular shaft 10 throughout its length and are secured thereto along the center lines of the arcuate members. These arcuate members are shaped so as to conform substantially to a portion of the outer surface of an article on the conveyer way and they constitute continuous concave article seats 19 for receiving and guiding articles along the way. The center of each seat is spaced from the outer guides in a radial direction equal to substantially the width of an article, and the side marginal portions 20 of said arcuate sheets are extended outwardlyso as to extend partly around the sides of the article, to insure proper guiding and retaining thereof; and the adjacent marginal portions of the arcuate members are arrangedto meet each other and are preferably secured together by welding or other suitable means to form a rigid column-like member with a fluted exterior. I

Articles are fed onto the lowering device at the upper end thereof by an inclined feeding chute 21 extending radially of the helix and having upright side flanges 22 for keeping articles on the chute; and the vertically disposed side fiange 5 of the helically coiled angle member at its upper end is cut away as at 23 adjacent to the end of the feeding chute in order to allow articles to pass onto the helical conveyer ramp.

Articles are discharged at the lower end of the helical conveyer ramp onto a chain conveyer 24 located just below the bottom thereof and extending tangentially therefrom and this chain conveyer may be driven by any suitable means. A straight strip-like member 25 extending parallel to and located above the side edge of the chain conveyer serves as a side guide for r rticles traveling on the chain conveyer and the guide member 25 joins with thelower end of the helically coiled strip 8 constituting the upper side guide around the helical conveyer ramp. The outer end of the guide member 25 is mounted on and secured to the top of an upright member 26 extending from the floor A, said upright member being connected to one of the upright angle members 1 of the supporting frame work of the lowering device by a suitable horizontal brace 27 located below the chain conveyer.

In the operation of my lowering device, cans D are placed 011 the feeding chute and travel along between the side flanges 22 thereof until they pass onto the upper end of the helical conveyer ramp and on account of the shape of the article guiding seats, the cans or articles can only seat themselves one at a time on the top of the helical conveyer ramp. At this point gravity actuates the articles to slide down the helical conveyer ramp, but it is seen that the articles can travel 'no'faster than the article guides, and accord ingly a plurality of cans can be lowered at the same time without coming in contact with each other. Furthermore, it is to be noted that the cans in th lowering device can only seat themselves therein in such manner that it is impossible for them to tilt to any great extent from an upright position during their course of travel; and this feature is in im portant advantage of the invention. The articles, upon reaching the lower end of the helical conveyer ramp, are discharged onto the chain conveyer and are removed there from by any suitable means.

Obviously, the construction hereinabove described admits of considerable variations without departing from the spirit of my invention. For instance, in adapting my device to lower articles other than cylindrical cans instead of providing the rotary element with concave article guiding seats, it is obvious that said seats should be shaped so as to conform to the shape of the particular articles that are to'be lowered by the device. Furthermore, the operation of my device heretofore described for lowering articles, may be reversed in order to transfer articles from a lower level to a higher level and as this may require minor changes in the construction of my device, particularly in the construction of the feeding and discharging means, I do not wish to limit my invention to the precise construction shown and described.

VVliat I claim is:

V 1. A conveyer comprising a comparatively steep helical conveyer way, guiding means around the outside of said way, a rotary element located centrally of said way, said rotary element having concave seats throughout the length of the way constituting inner guiding means for keeping articles on said way without allowing them to tilt and also constituting means for controlling the movement of articles thereon.

2. A conveyer comprising a helical conveyer way, a rotary element located centrally thereof, said rotary element having a continuous seat extending the length of the way for receiving a portion of an article thereon,

said seat being of such shape as to conform substantially to a portion of the outer periphery of an article on said way and having its sides extending partly around the article for holding it in an upright position and for controlling the movement thereof on the way. 3. A conveyer comprising an upright frame work, a helically coiled angle member therein having one of its flanges extending upwardly and constituting the periphery of the helix and having its other flange extending inwardly of the helix and constituting a conveyer way, a vertically disposed shaft 'rotatably mounted centrally of said helically coiled angle member, long narrow arcuate sheets secured to said shaft along their center lines throughout the length of the con veyer Way, said sheets being symmetrically arranged around said shaft With their adjacent marginal portions extending outwardly towards the conveyer Way and meeting each other thereby forming a columnlike member having a fluted exterior, and means for rotating said shaft whereby each flute of the columnlike member constitutes a continuous guiding seat for articles on the conveyer way.

Signed at Philadelphia, Pa. this 8th day of January, 1932.

FRANK J. DIETZ. 

